


does this mean we're brahfriends?

by parishilton



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Barebacking, California, Crack, Gay For You, Gay Panic, Homophobia, M/M, Marijuana, Nerd Louis, No Homo, Skateboarding, Surfing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 16:29:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parishilton/pseuds/parishilton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au where surfer!harry tries to get into an uptight louis' pants while consistently coming off as a homophobic d-bag. crack!fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	does this mean we're brahfriends?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zaynandlouis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaynandlouis/gifts).



> in deadpan, louis asks, "are you stalking me?" 
> 
> harry blinks. "no?" 
> 
> "then what are you doing here?" louis asks, voice full of venom. 
> 
> harry slouches down, disappointed. its not like he thought louis would be happy to see him, but brah, that really hurt. 
> 
> -
> 
> for gaby, who quit the fandom and is a closeted larry shipper.

"these waves are so tight today, brah." harry paddles back in towards the shore, taut stomach muscles clenching on his surf board. he groans appreciatively at the smell of salt water, inhaling deeply. "hella gnarly, right, z?"

zayn nods slowly from beside harry, taking his sweet time getting back to the beach. some stray wet hairs cling to his forehead. "i need a haircut, dude."

harry shrugs. "supercuts takes walk-ins, brah."

"cool, man." 

* * *

 

 

harry and zayn had been bros for as long as harry could remember. and they'd always been into skating and surfing. harry can remember skinning his knees with zayn for days on end in the summer, when they were eleven, trying to learn how to perfect the ollie.

they've mastered skateboarding tricks and mastered the art of riding a wave, but one thing neither of them have been able to manage was landing a betty. sure, he had sex with girls on the regular, but never dated any, really.

zayn had been in a few serious relationships, but that wasn't really harry's expertise. he always fumbled over his words when asking a girl on an actual date and usually ended up nervously chuckling at them while staring at their chests and instead asking them to go fool around with him in his garage.

now that he was seventeen he totally wanted a serious girlfriend. after all, that's what guys _do_. skate, surf, smoke, sex. 

* * *

 

"you should get a buzzcut, brah," harry suggests as they amble up to the barber shop.

zayn quirks an eyebrow easily as he walks up to the front desk. "no way, dude."

harry shrugs. "whatever, man."

a head rises from under the front desk, and a body quickly follows. "welcome to supercuts, what can we do for you?" the guy doesn't look like a skater at all, harry notices. he's got tan skin, sure, but his arms are big and toned like a boxer's, not thin and flimsy like harry's. his face is sharp and his skin is smooth and glowing, like the actors on tv. he's, like, way hot.

harry frowns. he isn't gay, though, brah.

the guy frowns back, confused. "welcome to supercuts?" he pauses wearily. "what can we do for you?"

"i need a trim, dude." zayn props his elbows on the front desk with the sense of entitlement that comes with looking like zayn.

the guy rolls his eyes. he cranes his neck and shouts to someone in the salon behind them. "kelly? can you fit in this guy?"

"sure!" the girl calls back.

harry stares dumbfounded at this boy for a few seconds before zayn tugs on his arm. "you're being way weird, man."

harry shrugs. he's freaking out. he's never been into a guy before. well, except chad michael murray, but that doesn't count.

* * *

 

 

there's a pool party at the kid's house who sells harry and zayn their weed that night. zayn can't shut up about all the hot babes that will be there wearing tiny bikinis. harry grins and oogles all the girls' asses.

"never understood ass men," zayn says. "all you need is right up here." he's pointing to his neck instead of his chest. he's drunk as a skunk.

"all you need is an adam's apple?" harry asks.

zayn scowls. "shut up, man. you mom has an adam's apple."

harry briefly wonders if it's possible he's bisexual, but he's greeted with some dudes coming towards them toting squirt guns, complete with dark, tangled chest hair and acne on their chins. he grimaces. no, he doesn't like guys, brah.

"hey, want to go make out in the pool?" a cute blonde girl asks him, smiling earnestly.

harry nods casually, "yeah, cool, babe."

"ugh, you always get the blondes," zayn says, bitter while walking away. 

* * *

 

 

"do i know you?" someone asks him monday morning in chemistry.

harry turns around slowly, blinking. he's still a little high from his morning car smoke.

it's the guy. harry almost chokes on his own spit. "hey, i know you, brah!" harry exclaims. "you work at supercuts."

"oh, right," the guys says grimly, "you're the one with the backwards hat."

harry frowns. "i like the packers."

"mmm," the guy says. he takes a seat next to harry at the work bench. "it's my first day. the teacher put me beside you," he adds, like he thinks harry would be angry to be sitting next to him.

harry stares at his tiny nose in profile so deeply he doesn't really make out what the guy is saying. "what's your name, brah?"

he rolls his eyes. "louis."

"cool name," harry nods. he looks over louis' things sitting atop their bench - his backpack, his binder, his wallet. there's a keychain hooked to the wallet with a rainbow flag on it. "you gay?"

louis' eyebrows furrow. "excuse me?"

harry points to the keychain.

"not that it's any of your business, but yes." louis averts his eyes and spends the rest of the class not speaking to harry and texting from underneath the bench. 

harry stares longingly at him out of the corner of his eye. so much hotter than chad michael murray.

* * *

 

 

harry is sitting in bed that night, playing idly with his hackey sack, while thinking obsessively about this louis guy. he wishes he had asked where louis was from instead of asking him if he was gay. although he still doesn't understand why he was so offended about being asked if he was gay. like, people from california usually didn't get upset like that. he must not be from around here.

he slaps himself in the forehead. "s _too_ pid," he murmurs.

he pulls out his phone and texts zayn.

_hey u kno that guy who wrks @ supercuts_

zayn answers shortly after with _yea i guess y_

 _can u ask around 4 his nmbr 4 me bro_ harry types.

zayn knows a lot of the nerdy kids in school, like the chess team and the after school book club, that harry doesn't. and louis seems like the book club type.

 _y? do u want a hair cut_ zayn replies. harry frowns. he can't tell if zayn is fucking with him or not.

* * *

 

 

"oh, you were serious about that, bro?" zayn asks in the morning. harry drives them to school every day in his convertible. it's an old banged up red mustang.

harry sighs, tortured. if he tells zayn too much, he might be risking social suicide with the skater guys because dating someone who isn't a skater isn't really _allowed._ "yeah, brah." he keeps his eyes on the road. "is he, like, new?"

zayn shrugs. "how should i know?" he kicks his feet up on the dash, black sneakers smearing dirt across harry's beloved baby.

"you know everybody," harry stresses weakly.

zayn eyes him acutely. "dude, you know everybody i know." he scoffs. "what is this about, anyway?"

harry clears his throat nervously. "i just want his number," he tries to say lightly, but it comes out defensive.

zayn rolls his eyes, missing the point. "why don't you just ask him your _self?"_

"because then he'll think i'm hitting on him," harry confesses, pouting.

"why the hell would he think that, man?" zayn asks, laughing. "bros ask other bros for their number, like, all the time."

harry glares out his windshield. "he's gay, though, brah."

"that's way uncool, man." zayn shakes his head in disappointment. "bros don't call other bros gay."

harry groans. "no, brah, like, he's totally gay. for _real."_

"ohhhh," zayn nods, then pauses. "well, don't be an idiot," he snorts, "just because he's gay doesn't mean he'll think _you're_ gay."

harry sighs heavily. but that's the problem! he is, like, totally gay for louis! 

* * *

 

 

louis comes to chemistry wearing a red cable-knit sweater and black jeans even though it's seventy degrees out, holding his binder tightly to his chest. he looks nervously around the room, like he forgot where his seat was, until he sees harry. then, his face falls and he walks over to their bench glumly.

harry frowns. what did he do to make louis hate him _already?_

maybe he thought when harry asked him if he was gay that he thought it was gross or something!

harry clears his throat nervously. "it's cool that you're gay, brah," harry says carefully. he looks down at louis hopefully.

louis even looks tiny when they're both sitting. he gives harry an uncomfortable look like he thinks harry might be a sexual predator, so harry frowns and slumps back down on his stool.

"you can't just say things like that," louis says finally, minutes later. he's avoiding eye contact with harry.

harry frowns. "why not?"

louis looks at him in disbelief. "look, please, just stop making fun of me, okay?" he licks his lips nervously, shimmying around on his stool, like he's trying to get as far away from harry as he can without actually leaving their bench.

"i'm totally straight!" harry shouts deeply, hoping to make louis feel more comfortable.

the whole class shuts up and everyone turns around to stare at him. several of the guys laugh loudly, while the girls give him confused looks.

 _"great,"_ louis bites. "so leave me alone, then."

"what?" harry asks dumbly. "but i wanted to get your number, brah!"

louis makes a horrified face. he scrambles up his folders and notebooks and hurriedly stuffs them into his knapsack. "can't believe i came to this stupid place thinking people would be different," he mutters to himself. then, he's rushing out the door in the middle of class. everybody turns again to stare at harry.

"what was that?" their teacher asks, folding his arms over his chest and giving harry a cold look.

harry _ughs_ in annoyance. "it wasn't my fault!" he protests.

"well, you're both getting detention for acting out in class," he says, shaking his head and then turning his back on the class to finish writing an equation on the board.

harry groans and bangs his head repeatedly on the bench. 

* * *

 

 

"i don't understand, bro," zayn says at their lockers. "can you explain it again?" 

"i told him i was straight before i asked for his number and he _still_ got mad at me!" harry cries, leaning against his locker door.

 _"mad?"_ zayn asks, like he's never heard of the word in his life. "it's cali, dude. people don't _get_ mad."

"so he _is_ new then?" harry asks, confused.

zayn groans. "quit while you're ahead, man."

"no," harry says childishly, not wanting to give up.

"he'll probably file a restraining order," zayn says, chuckling.

"fuck me sideways," harry mumbles sadly, "why does my life suck?"

"cheer up," says zayn, "it's pizza day." 

* * *

 

 

harry sits at home on his couch, sadly flicking through the tv channels. he pauses on a re-run of the hills right when audrina is lounging on the beach with a bikini on. she's still really hot, obviously, but, like, harry keeps thinking about louis.

he likes how louis has an attitude. not many people he knows do, at least not the kind of attitude louis has. he's friends with some girls who have the kind of attitude like the whole world is their's and if you block their path in the hallway you're, like, ruining their life. but louis' attitude is more like _i'm really rad and if you don't like me then get over it_ and harry isn't used to that.

in los angelos, at least, people care a lot about what people think of them. there's about fifty cliques in their school and all of them have, like, their own sets of rules. like, being a skater means harry isn't allowed to go anywhere but frank's for hot dogs.

not that he, like, wouldn't get service if he did. he just wouldn't have anybody to talk to because his bros all go to frank's. he wants to win louis over and show him he's really nice. he wants to teach louis how to skateboard and how to surf. he thinks about louis in swim trunks with his lean, tan chest and goes pink.

he isn't used to acting like a nerd around guys. usually when he's around guys, he just pounds a lot of fist and claps a lot of backs.

he's never really imagined himself one for pounding a lot of ass or coming on some guy's back. he's never been tongue-tied or even nervous around guys before. but he totally keeps saying the wrong thing around louis! it's way annoying.

he swears that when they have detention together, he'll make a better impression. 

* * *

 

"oh, god," louis says when harry walks into the room at three o'clock for detention. he's wearing heavy jeans even though it's way hot out, but he has a tee shirt on today. his arms look totally sexy.

"don't you have any shorts?" he asks, trying to make light conversation.

"no," louis sighs. "i don't."

"i could take you shopping," harry offers hopefully. then, higher-pitched, "but i'm not gay!" he clarifies so louis won't think he's hitting on him.

"you're such a jerk!" louis shouts. "i don't care if i'm required to be here, i'm leaving anyway!" and he marches right out the door.

harry frowns. what did he do _this_ time? 

* * *

 

 

"it sounds like you told him you would have taken him shopping if he wasn't gay," zayn laughs into the phone. "what's your damage, bro? i wouldn't be surprised if he hated you."

harry rubs one hand over his face, phone caught between his shoulder and his ear. "that's way harsh, zayn."

zayn sighs heavily from the other line. "you know what i mean, man. you need to, like, be more specific. he probably thinks you're a homophobic douchebag."

harry grunts into the phone. he feels so stupid for trying so hard to be clear around louis so he doesn't come off sounding like a perv, but he's just making it worse and worse! "suck my dick," harry says childishly.

"nah, man. if you want i can ask my mom to," zayn says, beating harry to the punch on the inevitable your mom joke.

"wow, you must feel really bad for me, brah." harry sighs.

zayn laughs loudly. "a bit, dude. you're kinda pathetic." 

* * *

 

 

he goes to supercuts on saturday. he doesn't know what he's going to say when he gets there, but he knows he wants to apologize.

he's isn't exactly sure what he's said exactly, but he knows louis wasn't happy about it. and he really wants them to be friends at least. he thinks he could live without ever getting to, like, jack louis off, but he can't settle for them not even being friends.

as soon as he walks in the door, louis freezes at the front desk like he's having intense war flashbacks. clutching the desk with one hand, his eyes widen frantically.

harry walks up to him and starts to say, "hey, i-"

in deadpan, louis asks, "are you stalking me?"

harry blinks. "no?"

"then what are you doing here?" louis asks, voice full of venom.

harry slouches down, disappointed. its not like he thought louis would be _happy_ to see him, but brah, that really hurt.

"i need a haircut," harry slips out before he can think of something else to say. he groans internally. he doesn't need a haircut. if he gets a haircut it might mess up his skater cred.

"you really do," louis agrees meanly and harry frowns.

"does it look that bad?" harry whispers, leaning closer louis for fear of someone hearing a hardcore skater bro like himself say something so softcore. "i thought it looked sexy. does it not look sexy to you?"

louis glares and makes no effort to look at harry's hair. "fuck you. just because i'm gay doesn't mean i want to fuck every guy i see, especially straight ones." he slams his pen down on the desk angrily and points towards the door. "go get a haircut across the street at vinny's!"

"but-" harry starts.

"i'll call security!" louis threatens. he whips his head around. "kelly!"

harry grimaces and shuffles away, defeated. maybe zayn was right. he's never going to make a good impression on louis after all of _this._

* * *

 

 

at school on monday harry sits at his regular table with the skater guys. zayn and niall are sitting opposite him. it's pizza day again.

"mmm," niall says passionately while he chews.

harry isn't eating. 

zayn stares in disbelief at him. then he swiftly wacks harry on the arm.

harry looks up, lost. "what?"

"bro," zayn says very seriously, even setting his pizza down, "lunch lady linda made that pizza." he raises an eyebrow. "it's your favorite."

"yeah," niall realizes, chewing sloppily, "you buggin' out about something?"

"nah, brah," harry lies, picking distractedly at his pizza.

zayn leans forward and dramatically drops his chin into his palm, waiting for harry to man up and admit he has problems.

"fine," harry moans. "i went to supercuts and-"

"supercuts?" niall asks, "i know somebody who works there."

"is her name kelly?" harry asks glumly.

niall bites into his pizza crust. "no, brah, this dude who just moved here from colorado because he was getting bullied for being gay at a private school there."

zayn's mouth drops open. _"damn."_

"yeah," niall says, "its way lame in the midwest."

"harry?" zayn asks with a wince, "you okay, dude?"

harry drops his head down to the table groans. "i'm such a spaz. i totally made louis think i was bullying him."

"and stalking him," zayn winces.

harry raises his head. "yeah, fuck you too."

"sorry, bro." 

* * *

 

 

when harry gets to chemistry, louis isn't there. and he never comes in either.

harry goes up to the teacher to ask about louis and he gets the worst news ever: louis dropped out of the class.

harry is so upset.

he texts niall _hey do u have louis number_

_um yea u sure ur not gonna like threaten to beat him up or smthng_

harry wants to die. 

* * *

 

 

all night he stays up trying to figure out what to text louis. he smokes his way through three dank joints before he finally decides.

 _hey louis its harry i got yr number from niall just wanted to ask u 2 come back 2 chem & can u pls text me back i want 2 apologize 4 being mean 2u and sry 4 coming 2 yr work_ he sends it before he can rethink it. 

* * *

 

 

he wakes up to his reply in the morning.

_i'm not coming back to chemistry i'm in biology now and please leave me alone_

harry wants to die. 

* * *

 

 

"why so blue, man?" niall asks harry the next morning.

harry shrugs, not wanting to talk about it. "i was way mean to louis by accident and now he hates me and thinks i'm, like, a homophobic stalker."

niall frowns. "maybe you shouldn't have told him you would have been his friend if he wasn't gay."

"what?" harry yelps. "i never said that! that's bogus." he glares. "and how did you know that?"

"he told me, brah," niall says, shrugging. "so, what _did_ you say?"

"i said i would take him shopping, but that i wasn't gay," harry says, thinking back on this flawlessly planned invitation and not understanding what went wrong.

niall scowls. "so, you basically told him that all gay bros have to love shopping."

 _"what?"_ harry cries. "no! i told him i wasn't gay so he wouldn't think i was asking him out."

laughing, niall shakes his head mercilessly. "you're really high on yourself, aren't you, bro?"

harry glares. "no, i- i just-" he sighs. "he looked like he was _afraid_ of me, like i was going to, like, perv on him, so i said i was straight so he'd give me his number, but-"

"his _number?"_ niall asks incredulously. "you managed to to fuck all of this up just by trying to ask a bro for his _number?"_

harry moans. "yeah, brah! i just wanted his number!"

"well, you have it now. i gave it to you, man."

"it doesn't matter anymore!" harry shouts. "he's not going to date me now, anyway!"

niall chokes on his cup of coffee. some of it runs down his chin. "i'm sorry, brah, i must have misunderstood you-"

" _stoo_ pid!" harry says, slapping himself on the forehead. in the process he knocks over his soda and spills it everywhere.

"um, calm down," niall says, quickly grabbing his coffee before harry knocks that over too. "what the hell are you talking about, dude?"

"he's really hot, niall! he's really hot and he hates me!" harry bemoans his own tragic existence. this would be the time to dig out gemma's smiths albums from the attic if he wasn't at school.  

"o _kayyyy,"_ niall drags out. "but you're not _gay,_ brah." he laughs like he's amazed harry hadn't already worked this out. "you fucked christy jackson last week in my beach house...." he trails off, waiting for harry to explain himself.

when he doesn't, niall makes a face of extreme confusion. "you're an ass man!"

the cheerleader table all whip their heads around and glare at them. harry bows down his head and winces. then, softly, "have you ever seen louis' ass?"

niall laughs. "can't say i have, brah."

"well," harry starts, "it's better than christy jackson's."

niall spits coffee all over the front of his white tank top. "harry, dude, you gotta stop doing that. i'm losing all my starbucks here, brah."

"i'm telling christy you said that!" heather demarco shouts from the other table.

"who _cares?"_ harry shouts back. "tell her i'm gay now, anyway!"

heather shoots him a dirty look then goes back to her pizza and diet coke. harry is having a very bad week. 

* * *

 

 

after harry has spanish class at the end of the day, he's in a bad mood. he didn't expect zayn to already know he had a crush on louis, but he should have known bras can't keep secrets, not even good brahs like niall. harry snaps his bubblegum in annoyance at the memory.

zayn had grabbed harry's notebook from him and scanned the front, then flipped it over and frowned. "where are all the little hearts with 'harry tomlinson' written inside them?" he asked without a trace of humor.

harry had choked on his gum. "what?"

"niall said you were writing 'harry tomlinson' on all your stuff."

harry reddened. "nah. he's full of shit." he had paused. "i didn't even know louis' last name!"

"don't get hostile," zayn grinned, "just checking." he paused. "so, you like guys now?"

harry had winced. "not really, just louis."

"what about _me?"_ zayn whined. he raised his arms up to show off his lack of muscles. "am i dreamy or what?"

"or what," harry replied, smiling. zayn punched him in the arm.

on the way out of class, zayn had elbowed harry dramatically. "there's your husband."

it was louis he was looking at. louis was holding about four books tightly to his chest and his shoelaces were untied. when he heard zayn, his face had paled. he backed away with a frightened expression and darted around the corner before harry could apologize. _again._

 _"shit,"_ zayn muses, "he really is afraid of you."

"thanks a lot," harry says, "really, thank you."

"chill." zayn shrugs. "after he gets your love letter, he'll come around."

"what love letter?" harry grunts.

zayn laughs. "the one you're gonna write him signed 'harry tomlinson'". 

he knows zayn was joking, but it's not a half bad idea. or maybe he just thinks so because he's half baked when he writes it.

_dear louis, please don't be afraid of me. bro. i'm sorry for ~~skaring~~ scaring you all those times, but i only did it because you're really cute and i want to date you. _

harry pauses, frowning. famous poets and writers back in shakespeare's time wouldn't have left a love letter looking this pathetic. he needs to spruce it up a bit.

_you're really cute and i think you've turned me a little gay, brah. i really want to touch your face and ~~make you choke on my and~~ take you on a date. let's go to the skate park. we can hold hands and i can teach you the french inhale haha _

_-harry tomlinson_

he shoves it in the locker niall tells harry belongs to louis before he can chicken out. he hopes the realness of it will reach louis. 

* * *

 

 

after a week, niall ends up letting slip to harry that louis has a free period every wednesday that he goes to the library for. he probably tells harry partly out of guilt because know that zayn knows he won't shut up about it and partly because louis hasn't responded to harry's letter or texted him back.

so he decides to go to the library for the first time ever. he has to ask his english teacher where it is. she looked green when he said he didn't know.

but going to the library during a free period is _so_ louis too, harry thinks. he's a studious brah. harry, on the other hand, uses his free period on thursday to smoke in his car.

so yes, he skips class on wednesday to go find louis, but not in a stalker way. in, like, a friendly way.

louis is sitting cross-legged in a huge plushy chair by the window. he's got his nose in some big book, probably called _how to ruin harry styles' life in three easy steps._

"i come in peace, brah," harry says softly, holding his hand up in a peace sign.

louis rolls his eyes. "that's not what you do if you're thinking of star trek."

"i don't watch that," harry confesses. "isn't that how britney spears got famous? i like the voice."

louis chuckles under his breath, then goes back to his book like harry isn't even standing there.

"so," harry tries wistfully, "do you still hate me?"

louis inhales sharply, slowly lowering his book. "no," he admits. "niall spoke to me."

"oh," says harry. "i thought you were scared of me so i, like, kept saying i was straight so you wouldn't think i wanted to jump you."

"see," louis says, dropping his book on the table in front of him, "where i come from, straight people _would_ want to jump me-"

"because you're so hot," harry finishes, nodding.

louis creases his eyebrows. "because jumping someone there means beating them up, not trying to have sex with them."

"oh," harry says, wincing. "well, i don't want to do either of those, brah." he pauses. "well, i do want to have sex with you a bit, but not against your will." he winces again. "obviously."

louis' jaw drops. "i thought in the letter you were _joking."_

"no way," harry says honestly. "i wouldn't, brah, especially after all this."

he watches louis' eyes glaze slowly over his body, stopping at his legs. if louis' debating whether or not he thinks harry is hot, harry totally hopes he decides he is.

"your jeans have rips in them," louis says bluntly.

harry shrugs.

"and you're not allowed to wear hats in school," louis scolds, reaching over to take harry's packers cap off his head. harry catches louis' hand on its way to drop the hat on the table and traces over his knuckles lightly with his fingertips.

"your hands are tiny, brah."

"um," louis says, wiggling around in his chair.

"you want to come out with me and the boys to the skate park?" harry asks with a small smile as he realizes louis isn't trying to take his hand back yet. he looks at louis expectantly.

louis nervously fingers the torn denim strings going across harry's knee. "i don't know. will it be fun?"

harry nods. "i'll buy you a slushie at frank's." he bends down and kisses louis' knuckles.

"um," louis says. "um. what are you doing?"

"trying to date you, brah. i'm going to date you really hard."

louis looks like he might pass out. 

* * *

 

 

"hey, bro," niall says to louis, trying to fist pound him. louis stares at niall's closed fist for several long seconds before turning to look up at harry, as if to ask what he's expected to do.

"don't pressure him, brah," harry says protectively. "he isn't ready to pound you yet."

 _"what?"_ louis yelps.

harry looks down fondly at him. "fist pound, brah. like, as a greeting."

"oh," louis says. he looks around nervously, shifting from one foot to the other. it's so cute harry wants to squeeze him.

it's weird, usually when he's with girls he just wants to sleep with them. but he really, really wants to teach louis how to skate, brah. he's really good at it too. he taught zayn's little sister last year. except that didn't end with sex. which is sort of what harry's aiming at with louis here. even if he isn't entirely sure how that works.

"so, this is the kid you harassed?" zayn asks harry in mocking. he walks up to louis with his skateboard, complete with wavves stickers on the bottom, in one arm. with the other, he moves to fist pound louis. louis laughs prettily at zayn's joke, nervously pounding zayn's fist as his eyes get crinkly.

"you feel like you fit in yet, brah?" harry asks boldly.

"um," louis says, looking around at all the skaters and punks. "i think i might need a buzzcut or something first."

"you can ask kelly on saturday," harry jokes.

eventually niall and zayn head down to frank's, but harry tells them they'll meet them later. he guides louis over to the smallest ramp and shows him how to shred on it. louis looks impressed, even though the ramp is a kiddie one.

"how you'd get so good at this?"

"practice," harry says, grinning. he loves being complimented. "let me show you, brah."

"no," louis says, laughing. "absolutely not. i'll fall over."

harry shrugs. "everybody falls over. even me."

louis bites his lip. "um." he pauses, eyeing harry's skateboard with intimidation clear in his eyes. "okay."

harry grabs louis' hips and helps him keep his balance as he struggles to stay upright. harry wants to grab his bum, but manages to restrain himself. louis' feet slip slide right off the board and he falls into harry's chest, hands fisting harry's thin black tee shirt to stay upright.

"sorry!" he yelps, trying to back away, but harry grabs him by the elbows and tugs him back in. he leans in to kiss him, but louis bugs out.

"harry-" louis starts, pulling back. "are you sure about this. i mean, you're straight. it's okay if you just want to be fr-"

"have you ever kissed a bro before?" harry asks softly, thumbing over louis' chin. he feels a little stubble there and is enchanted.

louis rolls his eyes. "you mean a _guy?_ no. have you?"

"nah," harry says, then kisses louis' bottom lip once, softly. he pulls back, judging louis' expression.

"um," louis says. "um."

harry wraps louis up in his chest and kisses him again. this time louis closes his eyes, kissing back, and sighs happily when harry rubs circles on his arm.

god, this is so much better than it ever could have been with a girl, he realizes. a girl never would have let him keep kissing her in public. a girl would never want to hang around with his friends either.

louis groans, pulling back and gently pushing harry's arms away. "you really want to do this?" he asks. "everyone said - i mean-" he flushes, embarrassed. "people said you've slept with a lot of girls, so-"

"are you calling me a tramp, brah?" harry asks, grinning.

 _"ugh,"_ louis says, "you aren't going to, like, date me in secret but make out with girls at school, right?"

harry gapes. "no way." he frowns. "that would be totally stupid after i told everyone i was gay for you."

"oh, god," louis groans. his hairline is a little shiny with sweat. "what's wrong with you?' he blows air out of his mouth loudly. "it's so hot here. how do you stand it?"

harry grins. "i think you should borrow one of my tank tops. you'd look really hot in one."

"shut up," louis instructs, one hand on harry's chest to keep him at a distance. "i'm trying to remember how to be aloof."

harry frowns. he doesn't want louis to be aloof, brah. he wants louis to tell him everything.

he scrubs his hand through his messy hair. its fucking _everywhere._ the sweat is making it curl in random places. louis stares.

"see something you like, brah?" harry asks, amused. he doesn't really feel all that sexy. his armpits are sticky with sweat and he's a little fatigued from not eating.

"yeah," louis says honestly. "you're a sweaty boy. what's not to like?"

harry laughs loudly. "sweet. let's get you a slushie."

* * *

 

 

at franks' louis sits with his legs squashed up against harry's at their small wooden table.

"so how do gay guys have sex?" zayn asks. he's drawing little doodles of the sun and ocean waves across the thigh of his acid wash jeans.

louis coughs roughly, then pretends to ignore the question.

harry elbows him softly, grinning. "yeah, brah, i'm gonna need to know."

louis snorts. "that's quite the big assumption."

 _"damn,"_ niall chuckles. "zayn, go get harry some ice for that burn."

harry frowns. zayn and niall leave to go throw away the plates after they finish eating and harry is still bummed. he didn't expect louis to want to have sex with him right away, but what if he didn't want to have sex with harry _at all?_ a bro has needs.

louis is biting his lip to keep from laughing and keeps throwing sly looks at harry. "what's wrong?" he asks harry, elbowing him back gently. "did vans stop making slip on sneakers?"

harry giggles, fingering the dank kush in his pocket. "you wanna smoke?"

louis crinkles his nose up. "no." then, he looks over harry's happy, glazed expression as he looks down lovingly at his baggie. "how does that affect your libido?"

"how does weed affect mosquitos?" harry asks, squeezing his eyes shut as he thinks deeply. "i don't think it does."

louis rolls his eyes. "no, i meant does that stuff make you horny?"

"oh," harry laughs, "yeah."

"hmm," louis says, finding louis' knee under the table and tracing over the skin there with his fingernails.

harry shivers. "why'd you ask?"

louis shakes his head, smiling. "no reason." 

* * *

 

 

over the next few weeks harry gets to hang out with louis a lot. he follows louis to the library every time they have a free period and he lounges while louis does homework. usually he rests his feet on the table and louis, wearing glasses and looking very stern, kicks harry's sneaker off with his own shoe.

they act more like bros then boyfriends, but harry's okay with that. they only kiss when their parents aren't home or that one time harry snuck louis out to his car during their free period. he tries to put the moves on louis all the time, but louis just laughs like it's dumb and pushes him away.

he wants to ask louis if he doesn't like the way harry kisses. maybe he uses too much tongue. he tries to ask zayn, but zayn thinks he's asking to kiss him. he just wants to know what people think of his technique.

"hey, lou?" harry asks in the library one day.

"mmm?" louis isn't paying attention to him at all, nose in a book.

harry is fiddling with his phone. "do you like the way i kiss?"

louis clears his throat very loudly. a freshman girl engrossed in judy blume, standing a few feet away, goes pink and runs off without her book.

louis groans. _"what?"_

"well," harry starts, frowning, "you never want to kiss me and i thought maybe i use too much tongue or-"

 _"harry."_ louis winces. "i'm sorry. that's not, um." he looks down in embarrassment. "i just don't want you to realize you don't want to be in a relationship with a guy because you're straight and then we can't even be friends because we've kissed before and it's too weird."

harry frowns even deeper. "but why can't we date and still be bros?"

"harry, i really like you. but you're-"

"don't say straight," harry begs. he's so tired of people telling him he's straight. it's so aggravating.

louis gives harry a sad look until he suddenly grins. "how about we pretend you're gay, then?"

"i can do that," harry nods solemnly. 

* * *

 

 

he shows up at louis' house the next day to hang out wearing a pink mesh tank top and leather pants. he bought them from a sex shop. louis is appalled and also can't stop laughing at him every time he looks up from his biology book. they don't kiss, and worse yet, harry doesn't know what else to do to seem gay.

he starts watching gay porn every day after school and he takes detailed notes in case louis ever decides they should have sex.

_one man calls the other big boy_

_sometimes one comes on the other one's face and never says sorry_

_the one with less muscles is always the bottom_

harry is upset about this unspoken rule of gay culture. he was hoping louis might be his top. but now he's certain it doesn't work that way. 

* * *

 

 

harry keeps getting it wrong. he picks louis up to go to the skate park and he's playing cher in the car. louis wrinkles his nose and takes the cd out, choosing not to comment on harry's music choice.

then, he tells louis that his favorite show is will and grace. louis snorts and sits on harry's couch, changing it back to the hills. harry is confused.

"harry," louis says carefully, playing with the remote. "i want you to stop pretending to like things you think i like. it's getting dumb. yesterday you told my mom to make you a cosmo when she asked if you wanted hot chocolate. i don't even like cosmos."

harry frowns. "but i just want to be a gay bro."

louis looks at him fondly. "when i said we should pretend you were gay, i didn't mean you should take up theater." he smiles. "and you look fine the way you are. please don't wear mesh again."

harry groans, feeling very stupid. "but then how do i - how do i be gay?"

louis climbs into his lap and kisses him.

"oh," harry says. grinning, he asks, "so... you didn't like the mesh?"

louis laughs. "you look good now," he offers.

"i'm wearing sweatpants," harry says, his stomach fluttering.

"you look hot," louis promises.

"is that why you sat on me?" harry rubs louis' hips.

louis squirms. "maybe."

harry is going to find out what turns louis on if it's the last thing he ever does.

* * *

 

 

louis is drunk and keeps telling harry he thinks harry looks hot in board shorts. that's how he knows louis is drunk. harry neither looks hot in board shorts, nor would louis ever admit he thought that if he was sober. so, all in all, it's a good night.

louis stops hanging all over harry's lap when he needs to pee, so he heads towards the bathroom. zayn winks.

"hey!" harry yells. "it's not like that. he's drunk!"

"i'm just sayin'... you better lock that down before some other gay bro does." zayn tosses back a beer. 

"is that a _threat?"_ harry asks, suddenly panicked. sometimes louis _does_ look at zayn funny.

zayn giggles, already tipsy. _"hell_ no." he scrambles up from the side of the pool where he'd been dipping his feet in and leaves barefoot. 

harry's eyes follow him over to the hot tub. zayn starts hitting on a blonde girl and harry feels a lot better.

by the time louis comes back, harry is significantly drunker. "what took you so long?" harry asks, nuzzling louis' neck. 

louis wraps his arm comfortably around harry's lower back, rubbing slowly. "i called my friend from back home. he told me to sleep with you."

"huh?" harry asks from louis' neck.

louis sighs, scratching intimately over harry's spine from under harry's tee shirt. "let's have sex."

they sneak into a shed in the back of whoever's house they're at. 

"do brahs have to wear condoms when they fuck other brahs?" harry asks as he shoves his pants down. 

louis snorts, swaying on his feet. "i don't know. would you prefer i didn't?" 

 _"huh?"_ harry says. "i thought the tall guy had to top. that's what gay bros _do!"_

louis laughs. "i don't know what you're talking about. what do you want?" 

after a short pause where harry tries to tamper down his excitement at the possibility of louis fucking him, harry answers, "can you fuck me, brah?"

louis falls over trying to get his pants off. 

when he finally does, he sits on harry's hips and slides his hands up under harry's shirt to touch his chest. 

"do you want me to take my shirt off, brah?" harry drawls, shamelessly groping louis' bum. 

louis shakes his head, lining up his dick to harry's ass. it burns, but harry is too drunk to care. he spurns on louis' movements by tugging louis flat on top of him and gripping his bum so louis slides in further. 

"shit," harry says, trying to remember what he's supposed to be doing. "c'mon, big boy," he manages in a rasp. 

louis coughs roughly. _"harry,"_ he pants, hips stilling. "what are you doing?" 

"being a gay bro," harry chokes out miserably, wishing louis would move again.

louis rolls his eyes, but starts fucking into him again, hips snapping into harry. "you're lucky you're cute." 

"oh, yeah," harry moans dramatically. "right there." 

louis bites harry's neck appreciatively.

"i think you hit my g spot, brah," harry pants. 

"oh my god," louis mutters, "shut up." 

harry's back aches against the old wood of the shed floor, but he keeps arching up into louis and scraping his bare ass along it, probably getting splinters. but he yelps like a puppy and comes when louis holds harry's hips to the floor and pounds into him, lips pressed into a firm line, determined. 

harry feels sad when louis slips out of him without having gotten off, so he takes louis' dick and rubs the head of it on harry's stomach until he comes on harry's chest, whining. 

louis falls flat on harry again, breathing heavily. he lazily pets the top of harry's head. 

curling one arm around louis' waist, harry asks, "does this make us brahfriends?"


End file.
